Showtime

I think this weekend is going to be a big showdown at WORS Wausau. No Norba's all the fast guys should be there. Tristan and I headed out to Greenbush to shake down the full suspension bikes to get ready for the weekend. I had a great ride and the new trails out there are darn nice. I joined IMBA! You should do it to if you ride MTB's. I have been on IMBA trails for a long time and figured it was my turn to give back. In other news Detroit has been killing the playoffs. Wings are looking good and the Pistons need a big win tomorrow night. Go Detroit~.

Thinking about doing a Norba in NY in July along with National Championships at Mt. Snow the following weekend. Why you ask? I figured I would head to the city in between races and catch a game at Yankee Stadium before it gets imploded at the end of the season. What other reasons are there to do a Norba? Do they pay out prize money? If the entry fee is much more than $20 I might seriously consider Superweek instead! But I do miss the good old days!

Secret Training Tips

Secret Training Tip # 7

Eat and drink LOTS while on long training rides!

This morning I did a solo 4 hour road ride. Over 1,000 CLIF calories injested and close to 100 oz of fluids. I feel like a champ! Thanks to my man G Heitman.

G and I go way back. He taught me a lot of Secret Traing Tips including my favorite interval workout that is guaranteed to make you race fast. Here is a photo of G, Beth H and I after 1996 WORLDS on the Great Barrier Reef.

Secret Training Tip #15 Always have fun!

Thanks G

Discipline

It was tough to skip this weekends WORS race, but in the long run I think it was the right thing to do. I needed to get another solid month of training under my belt and if I raced it had the potential to interrupt 2 weeks. So instead of the race I spent Sunday on my road bike discovering new roads out in the kettles. 4. 5 hours later I was in the reclinerw/ Rosco watching the CAVS and Celtics. I'll be ready for Wausau!

I also discovered some more hardwood floor in the kitchen underneath about 4 layers of linoleum and subfloor....I had nightmares about the orbital sander.

Friday nights fountain park Bike To Work Week party was sweet. Free Brats! I am officially a Sheboyganite after grilling over 100 Brats in a single day!

Finished off Bike and Walk to Work Week w/ 0 miles on the car and 5 days commuting including the ride home from Klunkerz at11:00pm Friday night.

OLD SCHOOL - NEW SCHOOL

Before

After

U SHOULD BIKE TO WORK 2

$1.33 and the scenery is not half bad.
















Thats how much I save each time I ride my bike to and from work. Doesn't sound like much, but that doesn't count the benefits to my heart, the environment and saving the wear and tear on my car. Three times commuting saves me a gallon of gas!















Word on the street is over 75 people showed up to the morning commuter station at Fountain Park in Sheboygan this morning for the free coffee. Friday night finishes off the week with yours truly grillin' brats She Vegas style 6:30pm also at Fountain Park.

Get on your bike and ride!

IOLA

I was pretty busy at work the other day and didn't have time for a proper update....now I'm waiting for a pizza at a new place in town so here goes....

Iola: It was a last minute decision and I almost didn't even make it to the start line. Drankus called and told me he was leaving at 9:30am for the race. I was still in Sheboygan at 10:30 getting some new 29er Hutchinson Python rubbers(with tubes).

I used the full power of the new Hyundai Sonata and made good time to Iola. 1:45 from Sheboygan not too shabby.

First race of the year. Not really motivated with a late start to training. Wanted to get more miles in the legs before giving it a whirl, but with near perfect weather I had to do it.

With less than 10 minutes warm up I was called to the front row after last year overall performance. I knew I wasn't ready for the pace on the first few climbs so I settled into 11th or 12th position on the first 4 climbs.

At the end of lap 1 I had moved inside the top 10 and by lap 2 I had latched onto the wheel of Tom Bender and the Flying French Canadian.

And that's the end of the story as I sat in comfortably for the next 3 laps. We dropped Bender and the F.F.C. was kiling it on the last lap and we almost caught Eppen in 3rd place.

Overall very happy. Good HR Numbers, Consistent Lap Times, and a solid finish.

The bike: Gary Fisher Superfly w/ Carbon Switchblade 21lbs

Superfly was nice...slow on the accelerations and there were a lot of them. I felt like I was taking bad lines the first 2 laps and it took a while to get used to the big wheels. No problems with the rigid Bontrager Carbon Switchblade. It's true suspension is not necessary with the big wheels. I was always overgeared coming out of the corners. Maybe if the wheels were lighter(no tubes) I could have accelerated faster. This was the first time I have raced with tubes in 7 years!

Who still rides with a CamelBak? Wasn't that like 7 years ago?

Next time I will be on this bike!!!!!

The 2008 Top Fuel weighing in at 24lbs.

What Race?

That's how good I feel today! Legs feel great, confidence is high and motivation is in full force.

5th place 2 minutes down on the leader. Debut on the rigid 29er Superfly! A little different than the fuel. Probably would have preffered the Fuel with all the accelerations and save the 29er for the long fast races. What happened between Dec 2nd the last cross race and April 7th when I started training? Not much but I didn't seem to lose too much fitness. Another month and I'll be a contender! Thanks Don for holding another great race, Rusty for some more fantastic photos, and all my sponsors for allowing me keep the dream alive.